Samurai story really is a cut above
Rise of the Ronin Various ●●●●●
PlayStation already has a cracking samurai title with Ghost of Tsushima, so this felt a little too similar.
How wrong we were. This is an excellent game in its own right. One that mixes Assassin’s Creed-style open-world exploration with difficult boss battles.
You play a Ronin – a masterless samurai – who’s on a revenge mission as another invader hits the shores of war-torn 19th Century Japan.
It brings together a wild mix of fighting styles with an in-depth action RPG combat system that allows you to develop a unique way of brawling that suits your gameplay.
There’s also multiplayer involved, and you can team up with pals in co-op mode.
The story unfolds at a nice pace that allows you to dip out and into side quests throughout the map.
It’s another cracking PS5 exclusive.
Also out this week is Outer Terror —which is a twin-stick shooter, a game mechanic introduced by arcade title Robotron back in 1982.
The genre has had a major revival in the last decade and most indie takes on the concept opt for pixel art, presumably as a nod to its roots in the 1980s. This offering instead goes for a visual style reminiscent of early-90s CD Rom games, which means fuzzy sprites, blocky polygons, headacheinducing textures, buildings that pop up from nowhere and loads of invisible walls hemming you in.